Build Your Own (metalworking) Lathe - Part I

Step 12 The Compound Swivel

Here's the compound swivel base. A 5" piece of steel goes on top of IT, for the final thingy to ride on.

That 'final thingy' is the Compound Slide -- and it holds the actual 'tool' -- a sharp bit of very hard steel -- which ultimately cuts the workpiece.

Where are we, now? Well, let's pretend we want to make a chess piece -- a pawn, say -- about an inch across at the base.

We'd need to put a piece of inch-diameter metal in the lathe. We'd need to move the cutting tool left-and-right to cut from the top of the pawn to the bottom (using the carriage, controlled by a 2' long threaded rod we'll discuss later). We'll need to cut more deeply and more shallowly to shape the various contours -- that's the cross-slide. And, finally, we'll need to alter the angle of the cutting tool to shape, say, the round head of the pawn -- the compound.

All of this is in place. Mostly what's left is the stuff to actually hold the workpiece (a headstock and tailstock -- like the two jaws of a vise, except in this case they allow the piece to spin); and the motor to turn it.